Canadian Pairs 2018/2019 Season News and Updates

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I have mixed feelings about this pairing. On the one hand, the lifts and the programs should be spectacular and I love that Luba has another chance to get to the Olympics. On the other hand, I don't think my heart can take another few years of watching Luba do jumps (or even throws) and I am not sure they will get better with Picard. If the coaches at the Cricket Club couldn't fix her jumps, I'm not expecting Picard to.

But as others have said, I don't know what other options he had without going international, and even there, I'm not really coming up with anyone off the top of my head. There don't even seem to be a lot of options in singles who can be converted to pairs.

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I don't think they would be coached by Picard though. She's been coaching Julianne since she was a child, and she said she would retire when Julianne stops skating. If she continues with a new partner, Picard would probably opt to coach them instead. And maybe a coaching change was what Charlie wanted and one of the reason behind the split (I'm just speculating here, I know nothing).

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I'm on the mixed feeling bus too but am very happy that Lubov gets another chance at her Olympic dream. And for Charlie, a chance to expand on his elements and artistic skills. Since I have plans to be in Montreal for worlds 2020, I'll be rooting for them to make the Canadian team as I'd love to see them live sooner than later.

That would be really cool if Meghan Duhamel became part of their coaching team. You know she's got lots to say about a lot of stuff

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I don't think they would be coached by Picard though. She's been coaching Julianne since she was a child, and she said she would retire when Julianne stops skating. If she continues with a new partner, Picard would probably opt to coach them instead. And maybe a coaching change was what Charlie wanted and one of the reason behind the split (I'm just speculating here, I know nothing).

Picard is a good coach and one of her strengths is that when she thinks her teams need something else she sends them to a specialist. That is why S/B had such great twists and throws. The twists coming out of Gauthier's are blah and It would seem he is more concentrated with MTM2. Maybe Bruno in Ste. Julie? or actually I am wondering about Yvan Desjardins. His young teams are doing well and they always have good presentation and programs and is located in Mtl.

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My understanding is that they are training in Quebec and Josee is most likely not part of the team.

We don't have full details of the split with Julianne but we have to account for what happens behind the scenes in terms of personal connection and alignment of important things like goals, training habits etc. I wouldn't discount this sort of stuff in terms of importance.

I understand the concerns about Lubov but this new scoring system gives them a bunch of opportunity to overcome anything lost on sbs jumps. The possibilities for levels and GoE across all other elements -- not to mention the PCS they will likely generate -- will likely have them placed favorably on the world stage as soon as Montreal worlds.

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This team really intrigues me. He's a bit younger compared to the age profile we're seeing from CAN teams on JGP but he has talent.
She is this little stick girl who lands her jumps and throws like a boss. And they have triples.

As long as he grows/matures a good deal relative to her I see tremendous potential in this team. I'd like to see them go with Patricia/Paxton because it's very likely they lead the Jr team to worlds next year and could benefit from the experience.

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This would be interesting to see. I'm not sure if she could fix Luba's jumps either, but I would be curious to see what she could pass on in terms of competitive mindset. Of course, we saw with Aliona and the Knierims that being a good athlete doesn't necessarily translate to the ability to coach, but Meagan was already working with some of Bruno's teams in Pyongchang.

I'm not necessarily assuming that this (still hypothetical, rumoured) pairing would get high PCS right away (Dylan and Lubov often didn't really get high PCS) but the weak pairs field internationally does mean that there is possibly a void that this team could step into.

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You can get great GOE and PCS across the board and rack up points, but I think it's pretty fair to say that a team that never (or very rarely) lands SBS jumps would not be podium material. Lubov's success rate at landing SBS jumps was usually in one program at one or two competitions per season at best.

Aging in a great place

I am going to wait until there is an official announcement.
I was I/Ms loyal fan, even contributed to their training fund. But, much as I love Lubov, I think her best future is with Cirque.
Also hoping Charlie chooses a younger partner who can progress by the next Os.

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You can get great GOE and PCS across the board and rack up points, but I think it's pretty fair to say that a team that never (or very rarely) lands SBS jumps would not be podium material. Lubov's success rate at landing SBS jumps was usually in one program at one or two competitions per season at best.

Judges like if you can skate big, starting with speed and the 3Tw. I think that element alone can slot you.

Despite the clear, consistent history that Lubov has I'm still keeping an open mind. I found that she was more consistent in the jumps her first two years with Dylan and then started to unwind. I did hear some nuggets in terms of how that camp approached her jumping as time went on and to the extent it's accurate it's a bit concerning. We'll see what support system is put in place in this new environment and how it works.

I'll also be watching their packaging. I'm hoping they try different things and don't lean exclusively on one choreographer such as Shae-Lynn or Julie. Like them both but their style has its place.

Here's the link to the interview in French. They should make the announcement soon and indeed it seems like they have to arrange her move to Quebec, so it could be someone from another region or country.Link

Now, maybe the try-out didn't work out, or the arrangements to have this new partner move to Quebec are taking longer than expected, so for now all we can do is speculate and weight for some sort of announcement.

Too be honest, I had forgotten how the whole discussion began so it was useful for myself to find the genesis of the discussion and remind myself that it was based on something more than pure speculation.

You are absolutely right...time will tell and nothing is official until there is an announcement from them. I did hear Lubov with Marcotte coaching but doesn’t mean it’s true. Fun to guess and speculate. Guess we will all find out eventually

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This team really intrigues me. He's a bit younger compared to the age profile we're seeing from CAN teams on JGP but he has talent.
She is this little stick girl who lands her jumps and throws like a boss. And they have triples.

As long as he grows/matures a good deal relative to her I see tremendous potential in this team. I'd like to see them go with Patricia/Paxton because it's very likely they lead the Jr team to worlds next year and could benefit from the experience.

I’d like to see them go too.
I would say this is a big growth year for the girls, it’ll be interesting to see how each team grows/stays together.
Brooke is a solid jumper and Patricia adding triple Sal and triple throw to her programs this season is impressive.
Canada is hopefully growing some strong pairs, let’s hope it continues.

I became a Lubov stan after seeing her at 2017 4CC. Her lines, extension, catlike landings on throw jumps, and freaky flexibility are just mind-blowing. I always thought that jumps aside, she had the skating quality of a Berezhnaya or a Gordeeva. Watching her, I never really noticed if she was falling, because the rest of the program was amazing.

I really want to see her skate competitively again, but if she doesn't, I'm happy she's enjoying Cirque du Soleil.

I understand the concerns about Lubov but this new scoring system gives them a bunch of opportunity to overcome anything lost on sbs jumps. The possibilities for levels and GoE across all other elements -- not to mention the PCS they will likely generate -- will likely have them placed favorably on the world stage as soon as Montreal worlds.

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The article says the tryout was a 1 week try-out and it was 2 weeks ago. So, some time in November.
I am sure they are waiting for US/Canadian Nationals to end...that is when partnerships break up or when when single skaters decide to switch to pairs. Was Lubov touring 3 weeks ago?